Title

Photodegradation

Broad Question

How will light effect food?

Specific Question

Will light effect mold, of photodegradation?

Hypothesis

I thought that the bread would have had the most mold in a short period of time, and the broccoli would have a lot of mold also. Not so much the orange because of its thick skin.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: Where the food was placed
Dependent Variable: The food, temperatures and amount of sunlight.

Variables That Need To Be Controlled: The temperature and amount of sunlight.

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Photodegradation- Is capable of decomposing using the act of light

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General Plan

In this experiment, there will be measuring mold growth and discoloration when put in the light.. The foods will be put into zip-lock bags and placed in the greenhouse. The food being near the light may cause photodegradation, which will affect the outside layer of food, it will be decomposed by the action of light. Over a course of about three weeks it will shown how the food and the mold is affected by the light. Pictures will be taken approximately every other day. On the last day measure the mold with a clear transparent grid paper, and graph the data.

Potential Problems And Solutions

Not molding fast enough.
Sun not always being out.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

The mold, breathing in the spores

Experimental Design

(add the correct headings from the experimental design page before beginning)

Resources and Budget Table

Data Table

Time Line

March 3-Complete design and collection of materials(JBES) March 11-Run a test of the set up, not collecting data, just seeing if everything works(JBES) March 6-Run first official trials of experiment,collect first data(JBES) March 21-Complete all trials of experiment and all data collection(HOME) March 23-Complete all analysis; mean, median, range, graphs(HOME) March 25 -Complete results and conclusions write up(HOME)

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Background Research

Mold on Bread:

• Eating moldy bread may cause nausea
• The mold takes nutrients from the bread making the surface all weird
• A mold spore is spread from the wind to the bread
• The spore attaches itself to the bread, it grows hair like particles and the wind blows and it spreads again, it goes on and on and on
• penicillium, aspergillus, rhizopus, monuscus and fusarium all grow on bread
• penicillium appears to be a greenish gray

Mold on clementines and oranges:

• Penicillin grows on oranges
• Penicillin is made to fight against bacteria
• The scientific name for clementines is citrus reticulata citrus auratiumls

Mold on Broccoli:

• Mold on broccoli is usually brown or a black
• It smells super bad

References

Detailed Procedure

1. Get 15 zip-lock bags
2. Place 5 clementines, 5 pieces broccoli and 5 pieces of bread out
on a table to expose them of mold spores in the air.
3. The next day place the foods into zip-lock bags (seal them tight).
4. Take pictures of the foods every other day, or every science day.
5. At the end of 4 weeks use transparent centimeter grid sheet to mesure
The mold and how much mold grew.
6. Copy your data onto a graph

Diagram

Photo List

• Pictures of moldy bread
• Pictures of moldy Clementines
• Pictures of moldy broccoli
• When doing my experiment I will take picture every other day, including the first and last day
• 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 21st. Three pictures each day. 27 pictures.
• pictures of the weighing of the food
• pictures of putting the food into the jars

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Results

While conducting the experiment it was shown that photodegradation mostly appeared on the broccoli, on broccoli trial 4 the side of the broccoli facing the sun was a yellowish brown color, the side that was not facing the sun was still a green color. This shows that photodegradation did appear.

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

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Data Analysis

Conclusion

Photodegradation will apear on foods if they are left out for a long period of time, being exposed to light.

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Discussion

The question in the experiment was will light affect how fast the mold grows, or
how it affects the mold, and if the sunlight would cause photodegradation. The foods that were set up inside of a greenhouse were Clementines bread and and broccoli. The light did end up affecting the mold and how it grew. There was not actual mold but discoloration caused by the photodegradation. On Broccoli trial 4, the side that was facing the light was a yellowish brown color, the other side that was not facing the sun was still a green color. Some of the clementines had a brownish color on them, but nothing really happened to the bread there were some white specks but that was it. All of the data for the broccoli was in the teens and higher, with the bread it did not go past one, and for the clementine.
To improve this experiment it should have been conducted sooner, to make it better. There should have been a spot without sunlight to how no sunlight affects it to, and then then the two experiments would be compared. The computer was used during the experiment, for research, there was also a camera for taking pictures of the foods as the photodegradation happened.
Through this experiment it was learned not to let food out in the light for long periods of time of photodegradation may occur.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

Abstract

My science fair experiment is about how light affects food. I had clementines, bread and broccoli. Over a course of a few weeks I took pictures of the food and observed it changing, I originally thought that the bread would mold and be the most affected by the light, but it ended up being the least affected, and the broccoli was the most affected by the light and was changed by photodegradation.